Tex Ritter Biography- 1932
“Changes do have to take place in all walks of life if we are to understand each other...if we are to grow...if we are to make this a better world for ourselves and our children and our children's children. And the answer is in our music. Simple, basic truth...from the heart to the heart...that's what it's all about. We seem to better understand each other in song.” Tex Ritter: Country Music Association Awards Banquet in October 1973
On September 2, 1932 Tex Ritter took his guitar into ARC Columbia’s New York studio and waxed three songs: “A-Ridin’ Old Paint” and “Git Along Little Doggie” were fit on one side and the song he would make famous in later years, “Rye Whiskey” was the flip side. The songs were not issued at that time but recently appeared on a Bear Family compilation. Tex, who began his recording career at the height of the Depression, had his second session on March 15, 1933 where he cut his first released songs: “Everyday in the Saddle,” “Goodbye, Old Paint” and “Rye Whiskey.”
Ritter who knew the most noted cowboy authorities J. Frank Dobie, Oscar J. Fox, and John Lomax from his days at University of Texas at Austin, used his singing talents to become one of the leading ‘singing cowboys’ in 1936. Using his B Western movie popularity, he started a string of hits for Capitol records beginning in 1942 that lasted until the early 1960s with his hit, “I Dreamed of A Hillbilly Heaven.”
Tex made over 60 movies from 1936, appearing with Hollywood stars Rita Hayworth and Robert Michum to Country Music stars Ray Whitley, Bob Wills and Johnny Bond. The low budget B Westerns were churned out at an amazing pace: “They were turning out movies so fast you didn’t even know what the title would be,” said Ritter. “We’d go out there and film all day and not even know what the film was about. They’d say sing ‘such and such’ and I’d sing it. It wasn’t until I saw the movie in the theater that I knew what it was we were doing.”
Ritter was well suited to the role of singing cowboy. He looked and acted the part and was singing the type of songs he loved best. Unfortunately most of his films were made for Grand National and Monogram, two of the so-called poverty row studios. These studios were smaller than the majors and made their films on limited budgets. Although Ritter’s films never had the production values of films starring Gene Autry or Roy Rogers, he still enjoyed considerable success at the box office.
His youngest son, John, may be known to current generations through his television shows, "Three's Company" “Hooperman” and "Hearts Afire." As I watched “Bad Santa,” John’s last movie before he passed away unexpectedly at the age of 54 in 2003, I thought about his father, one of the greatest singing cowboys of all.
Early Life
Tex, born Maurice Woodward Ritter in Murvaul, Texas on Jan. 12, 1905, was one of six children born to James Everett Ritter and Martha Elizabeth Matthews. The youngest of six children, he grew up on his family's farm in Panola County and attended grade school in Carthage. “I guess my little section of East Texas was possible the last place in the country that had an automobile,” he recalled in an interview with Paul Hemphill. In those early days before becoming 'Tex' in the late 1920s, his nickname was 'Woodard' (not Woodward). His earliest musical education was singing in the church choir.
After the family moved to Nederland, he then attended South Park High School from 1921-1922 in Beaumont. He played sports, acted in class plays and dabbled in playing the guitar. After graduating with honors as senior class president, he entered the University of Texas at Austin in the fall of 1922 where he studied pre-law; taking courses in government, political science and economics.
University of Texas
He sang in the Glee Club and the extended touring hurt his academics. In 1925 through the urging of John Lomax, Oscar Fox (1879-1961, collector and composer of western songs and ballads, became the director of the Glee club and started the Oratorio Society which Woodard also joined. Fox became one of Ritter’s mentors and began giving him voice lessons. Fox encouraged his pupil to master the guitar and included Ritter’s solo performances in their concerts. John Lomax, secretary of the University’s Alumni Association, urged Ritter to compile his own collection of cowboy songs. From Lomax Ritter learned cowboy songs in their purest form, from the words and inflections of venerable ranch hands.
Ritter also met J. Frank Dobie, secretary-editor of the Texas Folklore Society. “Dobie played a large part in making me what I am today” said Tex later. On one research trip with Dobie, Tex collected and learned the folk song, “Rye Whiskey.” At the end of his fifth year at the University of Texas Ritter had not completed his law degree and took a role singing in the chorus of “Maryland, My Maryland.” After the tour was over he returned to Texas and became choir director of Houston’s Third Presbyterian Church. The same year 1928, he sang on KPRC Radio in Houston, a thirty-minute show featuring cowboy songs.
New York City 1928
Needing to earn money to finish getting his degree, Ritter moved to New York City. With only $30 he quickly had to sell his books in order to buy food. Soon he landed a job in the men's chorus of the Broadway show The New Moon which opened in September, 1928. When the show stopped in Chicago, he tried to finish his degree and entered Northwestern University. With the Depression money hard to come by, so he soon returned to New York where he worked in several more Broadway productions. Tex appeared as “The Cowboy” in Green Grow the Lilacs, a 1930 play which a decade later Rodgers and Hammerstein adapted into their Oklahoma! He also played the part of Sagebrush Charlie in The Round Up (1932) and Mother Lode (1934).
Ritter also worked on various radio programs. In 1932, he starred on the WOR Radio show The Lone Star Rangers, which was New York's first broadcast western, where he sang songs and told tales of the Old West. Ritter wrote and starred in Cowboy Tom's Roundup on WINS Radio in New York in 1933. This daily children's cowboy radio program aired over three stations on the East Coast for three years. Ritter was even a member of the Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders radio program. He also performed on the radio show WHN Barndance and sang on NBC Radio.
These shows marked the beginning of Ritter's popularity in radio, which paved the way for his upcoming singing career.
Starts Recording Career- ARC 1932; Decca 1934
While in New York, Ritter approached Art Satherley, an A & R man who had recorded Gene Autry, about making records and cut his first songs in 1932 for ARC (Columbia). The first songs were not released but next year at his second session first record with "Rye Whiskey" backed by "Goodbye Ole Paint" was released. Tex then signed with the newly formed Decca Records in 1934 and released his first record "Sam Hall" and "Get Along Little Dogie" the next year. He recorded a total of twenty-nine songs for Decca, the last being in 1939 in Los Angeles as Tex Ritter and His Texans.
California 1936; Movie Star for Grand National and Monogram
By mid-decade, the enormous success of Gene Autry’s films led other studios to look for their own singing cowboys. One of the first producers to recognize Ritter’s potential was producer Edward Finney at Grand National Pictures, a low-budget movie company. He signed Ritter, who moved to Los Angeles, to a five-year personal contract, and released Tex’s first starring film, Song of the Gringo, in November 1936. Ritter, who used rental horses until acquired his own stallion, White Flash, made 12 pictures for Grand National between 1936 and 1938.
He starred in twelve movies for Grand National, "B" grade Westerns, which included Headin' For The Rio Grande (1936), and Trouble In Texas (1937) co-starring Rita Hayworth (then known as Rita Cansino), Ray Whitley and his Range Ramblers co-starred in Mystery of The Hooded Horseman.
Grand National was headed towards deep financial troubles and bankruptcy. Around the Summer of 1938, Finney moved his 'Boots and Saddles' Production Company over to Monogram, where the Ritter film budgets were to be increased to around $20,000 per picture. As part of the deal, Finney became the Monogram advertising chief as well as producer and director of various films. The collaboration of Finney and Ritter lasted the five years, and resulted in thirty-two B westerns which varied in quality, content and production enthusiasm. During this time Ritter was ranked among Hollywood’s top ten best money making stars.
“Roy (Rogers) and Gene (autry) sang more,” said Tex, “I killed more-I must have killed old Charlie king twenty times. Usually behind the same rock!”
In 1940 Tex gave popular fiddler Bob Wills his first movie role in, Take Me back To Oklahoma which featured Bob’s hit songs, “Take Me Back To Tulsa.” Wills and his Texas Playboy band would so on to star in eleven westerns for Columbia from 1942-44. In 1941 future Country Music Hall-Of-Famer Red Foley made his first film when he starred with Tex in The Pioneers.
Sidekicks
During the 32 films at Grand National and Monogram, Tex rode the trail briefly with Fuzzy Knight, Syd Saylor, Roscoe Ates, and Hank Worden. But his most frequent saddle pals were Horace Murphy (15 films) and the moustached silent comedian Snub Pollard (12 films). Murphy's role was as 'Stubby' or 'Ananias', while Pollard used 'Pee Wee' as his moniker. Lloyd 'Arkansas Slim' Andrews (with his trusty mule Josephine) arrived in Monogram #11, Rhythm of the Rio Grande (Monogram, 1940) and sidekicked in ten films.
Married 1941
Ritter made four movies with pretty leading lady Dorothy Fay at Monogram Pictures: Song of the Buckaroo (1938), Sundown on the Prairie (1939), Rollin' Westward (1939) and Rainbow Over the Range (1940). Her real name was Dorothy Fay Southworth (1915-2003), and she is best remembered as the heroine of two serials, The Green Archer (1940) and White Eagle (1941). They tied the knot on June 14, 1941, and the union would last through Ritter's death in 1974. Soon after their marriage, Dorothy retired from film work. They had two sons, Thomas Ritter and well-known television star John Ritter, who died in 2003. He is also the grandfather of Jason Ritter.
Signs with Capitol 1942- Delmore Brothers
In 1942, Tex Ritter became the first Country and Western artist signed to the newly formed Capitol Records, and he became one of the label’s first major stars. He soon began scoring major hits with records such as “Jealous Heart” and “Rye Whiskey” (his 1933 song) that he sang it in his first film Song of the Gringo. The first five years produced such major hits as “(I Got Spurs That) Jingle, Jangle, Jingle,” “I’m Wasting My Tears On You,” “There’s A New Moon Over My Shoulder,” “Jealous Heart,” You Two-Timed Me One Time Too Often,” “You Will Have To Pay, “Long Time Gone,” “Green Grow The Lilacs,” “Blood On the Saddle,” and “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You.”
In 1945, he had the #1, #2 and #3 songs on Billboard's "Most Played Jukebox Folk Records" poll, a first in the industry. Between 1945 and 1946, he registered seven consecutive Top 5 hits, including "You Two Timed Me One Time Too Often," a country #1 written by Jenny Lou Carson, which spent eleven weeks on the charts. In 1948, "Rye Whiskey" and his cover of "Deck Of Cards" both made the Top 10 and "Pecos Bill" reached #15. In 1950, "Daddy's Last Letter (Private First Class John H. McCormick)" also became a hit. Ritter would record for Capitol for the rest of his life.
Tex frequently toured and according to Alton Delmore played a few shows with the Delmore Brothers. According to Alton: “Yes- Old Tex Ritter and our show have played a lot of Theaters in the Carolina and all around. We were playing up in Pennsylvania when we got that one [photo of Tex with the Delmores] taken.” (For a story about Ritter see Delmore Brothers p. )
Universal 1942 PRC 1944
After Monogram Tex headed over to Columbia Pictures with Bill Elliott for a more lucrative picture deal in early 1941. Ritter was ranked as a Top Ten Box Office star during most of the years in which he did films. When Elliott joined Republic Pictures, Ritter jumped over to Universal as co-star in the Johnny Mack Brown series. His first picture fro universal was the 1942 Deep In The Heart Of Texas. The same year he appeared with Robert Mitchum in Lone Star Trail.
The Ritter movies at Universal, with Brown as well as the solo efforts, were the best of his career. Supporting casts included William Farnum, Kenneth Harlan, William Desmond, and heavies Roy Barcroft, Harry Woods, Slim Whitaker and Jack Ingram. Comedy talents were left to Fuzzy Knight. The Jimmy Wakely Trio (Wakely, Johnny Bond, Scotty Harrell) provided the musical assist in the Brown/Ritter pairings, while Bond and his Red River Valley Boys did the music duties at the end. The dominant female interest was Jennifer Holt, the daughter of action star Jack Holt and sister of Tim. A variety of directors were in charge: Lew Collins, Vernon Keays, Ray Taylor, and a veteran named Elmer Clifton, who would cross Tex's path the following year.
PRC produced the last B western films of Tex from 1944 to 1945. Tex was forty years old now and the B Westerns were beginning to lose popularity. By 1950 television had started to become popular and the B western stars moved from the big screen to the little screen. Autry and Roy Rogers the two top western stars both started TV series and by the early 50s the B Western’s were history.
1950s: High Noon- 1952; Host of Town Hall Party- 1953
A different type of film opportunity came to Ritter in 1952, when he was asked to sing the title song of the Gary Cooper–Grace Kelly western High Noon. The song, "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darlin')," was used as a narrative throughout the film and became Ritter’s signature song. He sang "High Noon" at the first-ever televised Academy Awards ceremony in 1953. It received an Oscar for Best Song that year.
Ritter did his first tour of Europe in 1952. His success with “High Noon” helped win him the job as the MC of the television program Town Hall Party, which he hosted between 1953 and 1960 in Los Angeles. Ritter formed Vidor Publications Inc., a music publishing firm, with Johnny Bond in 1955 with "Remember the Alamo" first song in catalogue. Ritter like many popular western stars even had his own comic book series.
Ritter was one of the first Country artists to record albums (LPs) built around a central theme and starting with Songs From the Western Screen in 1957, he recorded albums of cowboy songs, patriotic songs, hymns, and Mexican songs as well as albums of country music. After leaving Town Hall Party, he released the LP Blood on the Saddle, a dark collection of cowboy narrative songs. He starred in his own TV music series, Ranch Party, in 1959, which was televised for four years.
Later Life from the 60s
In 1961 Ritter recorded “I Dreamed of a Hillbilly Heaven,” which became one of his biggest hits and displayed the fine way he delivered recitations. Ritter became involved with the formation of the Country Music Association (CMA) in 1963 and was elected its president. The next year he became the fifth person and first singing cowboy to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1965 Ritter’s growing involvement in country music led him to move to Nashville, where he co-hosted the late night country music radio program on WSM with Ralph Emery and joined the Grand Ole Opry. His family remained in California temporarily so that son John could finish high school there. For a time, Dorothy was an official greeter at the Opry.
In 1970, Ritter surprised many people by entering the Republican primary for United States Senate. Despite high name recognition, he lost overwhelmingly to Chattanooga Congressman Bill Brock, who then went on to win the general election. Ritter had his last recording session for Capitol Records in 1973. His last song, "The Americans," became a posthumous hit shortly after his death. He had a heart attack and died in Nashville on January 2, 1974. He is interred in Oak Bluff Memorial Park, Port Neches, Texas.
Interested in preserving Country Music heritage, he was instrumental in establishing the library in the Country Music Association's Hall of Fame. For his contribution to the recording industry, Tex Ritter has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6631 Hollywood Blvd. In 1980, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His wife, Dorothy had a stroke several years ago and lost her speech, and she resided at the Motion Picture Home in Woodland Hills, California. Tex and Dorothy had two children; sons Tom and John (of TV and movie fame). John Ritter passed away unexpectedly at the age of 54 on September 11, 2003 and Dorothy passed away at the age of 88 on November 5, 2003.
Recordings: Ritter began waxing records first in 1932 with Art Satherley and ARC (Columbia) and then with Decca. His recording career took of after he signed with Capitol in 1942 where Ritter mixed Western Swing and contemporary country songs with the traditional Cowboy ballads, backed by Merle Travis, Johnny Bond, Wesley Tuttle, Margie Ann 'Fiddlin' Kate' DeVere and Cliffie Stone, among others. He also recorded many theme oriented LPs starting with Songs From the Western Screen in 1957.
Hits: He achieved significant success with "Jingle, Jangle, Jingle," and in 1944, he scored another hit with "I'm Wastin' My Tears On You," which hit #1 on the country charts and #11 on the Pop charts. "There's A New Moon Over My Shoulder" was a country charts #2 and Pop charts #21. In 1945, he had the #1, #2 and #3 songs on Billboard's "Most Played Jukebox Folk Records" poll, a first in the industry. Between 1945 and 1946, he registered seven consecutive Top 5 hits, including "You Two Timed Me One Time Too Often," a country #1 written by Jenny Lou Carson, which spent eleven weeks on the charts. In 1948, "Rye Whiskey" and his cover of "Deck Of Cards" both made the Top 10 and "Pecos Bill" reached #15. In 1950, "Daddy's Last Letter (Private First Class John H. McCormick)" also became a hit. In 1952, Ritter recorded the movie title-track song "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darlin')", which became a hit. He sang "High Noon" at the first-ever televised Academy Awards ceremony in 1953. It received an Oscar for Best Song that year. His last major hit was the 1961 “I Dreamed of a Hillbilly Heaven.”
Songwriting Hits: Boss Jack; I've Done the Best I Could; Gold Is Where You Find It; High Wide and Handsome; In Your Lovely Veil of White; Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide; I'm Wastin' My Tears on You; Remember the Alamo;
Tex Ritter Discography 1932-1942: A Ridin’ Old Paint; Answer To Nobody’s Darling But Mine; Arizona Days; Bill The Bar Fly; Boots And Saddle; Down The Colorado Trail; Everyday In The Saddle; Get Along Little Doggies; Goodbye My Little Cherokee; Headin’ For The Rio Grande; High Wide And Handsome; Hills of Old Wyomin’; Hittin’ The Trail; I’m A Do Right Cowboy; I’m a Natural Born Cowboy; I’ve Done the Best I Could; Jailhouse Lament; Jingle Jangle Jingle; Lady Killin’ Cowboy; (A) Melody From The Sky; My Brown Eyed Rose of Texas; Out On The Lone Prairie; Oregon Trail; Nobody’s Darling But Mine; Ride Ride Ride; Ridin’ Down To Albuquerque; Rye Whiskey; Sam Hall; Sing Cowboy Sing; Singin’ In The Saddle; Someone; Sundown On the Prairie; Thirty Three Years In Prison; Viva Tequila; We’ll Rest At The End Of The Trail; When It’s Lamp Lighting Time In The Valley;
Tex Ritter Discography Singles From 1942- Capitol (Capitol Americana):
A Beautiful Life; Across The Miles To You; Americans, The; Animal Fair; Another Unmailed Letter; As Long As I Live; As Long As The River Flows On; Awake My Charity; Bad Brahma Bull; Bandit, The; Bandit Of Brazil; Barbara Allen; Bats In Your Belfry; Best Time Of All; Beyond A Shadow Of A Doubt; Big Blue Diamond; Big Rock Candy Mountain; Billy Boy; Billy the Kid; Blood On The Saddle; Blue Canadian Rockies; Blue Shadows On The Trail; Blue Tail, The Red Fox; Boiled Crawfish; Boll Weevil; Boogie Woogie Cowboy; Born To Be Blue; Brave Man; Brushy Mountain; Buffalo Dream; Cactus Jackson Had A Ranch; Camptown Races; Carbon, The Copy Cat; Careless Darlin'; Careless Hands; Casey Jones; Cattle Call; Christmas Carols By The Old Corral; Cherokee Waltz; Chicken, My Chicken; Chuckwagon Son Of A Gun; Cimarron (Roll On); Coal Smoke Valve Oil and Steam; Coffee Pot; Cold Hands, Warm Heart; Comin’ after Jinny; Cool Water; Cowboy Jack; Cricket Song; Daddy’s Last Letter; Dallas Darlin’; Dear John; Deck Of Cards; Detour; Don't Blame It All On Me; Don't Make Me Sorry; Down In The Valley; Egg-A-Bread; Empty Saddles; Everybody Likes A Little Lovin’; Everlasting Song; Eyes Of Texas Are Upon You; Face On The Barroom Floor; Fiery Bear; First Rose; Forget Me Not; Forth Worth Jail; Froggy Went A Courtin'; From Now On; From The World Of Love; Gettysburg Address; Give The World A Smile; Go On Get Out; Goodbye My Little Cherokee; Gotta Have Some Lovin'; Gotta Make Up For Lost Time; Grace Has Set Me Free; Great American Eagle; Greedy Old Dog; Green Grass Grew All Around; Green Grow The Lilacs; Growin’ Up; Green Leaves Of Summer; Gunsmoke; Happy Hands; Has Anybody Seen My Kitty; Have I Stayed Away Too Long; Have I Told You Lately That I Love You; He Who Is Without Sin; High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me); Help Me O Lord; High On A Mountain Top; Hills Of Pride; His Leaf Shall Not Wither; He’s A Cowboy Auctioneer; Hide Me Rock Of Ages; Hillbilly Heaven; His Mercy Is Everlasting; Home On The Range; Honey Chile; Hope That Shall Sustain Me; How Excellent Is Thy Name; How Was I To Know; I Can't Get My Foot Off The Rail; I Can't Go On This Way; I Don't Care Who Knows It ('Cause It's True); I Dreamed Of A Hillbilly Heaven; I Dreamed That My Daddy Come Home; I Got Spurs That Jingle Jangle Jingle; I Hang My Head And Cry; I Just Called To Say Goodbye; I Know It Now; I Leaned On A Man; I Learned My Lesson Too Late; I Love My Rooster; I Shall Never Be Moved; I Was Born A Hundred Years Ago; I Was Wrong; I Wish I Had Never Met Sunshine; If I Could Steal You From Somebody Else; If You Whistle; I’ll Be A Sunbeam; I'll Just Kiss Your Picture Goodnight; I'll Wait For You, Dear; I'm An Old Cowhand; I'm Beginning To Believe In You; I’m Gonna Leave You Like I Found You; I’m Through With Love; I'm Wastin' My Tears On You; In Case You Change Your Mind; In Your Life There's No Room For Me; Is There A Santa Claus?; It Doesn’t Hurt A Bit To Be Polite; It Makes No Difference Now; It's Been So Long Darling; It's Never Too Late; I've Found A New Baby (instrumental); I've Got Five Dollars And It's Saturday Night; I've Had Enough Of Your Two Timin'; Jealous Heart; Jesus Loves Me; Just Beyond The Moon; Keeper Of The Key; Last Mile; Last Frontier; Let Me Freely Yield; Let Me Go Devil; Let The Sea Roar; Letter Edged In Black; Letter To My Son; Let's Forget; Lift Up Your Heads O Ye Gates; Little Feet Be Careful/Away In A Manger; Little Joe The Wrangler; Little Wendy Why Why; Live And Let Live; Lonely River; Long Black Rifle; Long Time Gone; Lord Is Thy Keeper; Lord Is My Shepherd; Lord Let Thy Grace Surround Me; Lord Send An Angel; Lorena; Love Me Now; Love You Big As Texas; Lovely Veil Of White; Make Room In Your Heart For A Friend; Marshall’s Daughter; Merry Christmas Polka; Move It On Over; Mr. Buzzard; Muskrat; My Adobe Hacienda; My Bucket’s been Fixed; My Darling Clementine; My Heart’s As Cold As An Empty Jug; My Soul Doth Wait; My Soul Thirsts For God; My Woman Ain’t Pretty; Never Mind My Tears; Night-Herding Song; Ninety-Nine Years Is A Long Time; Noise Song; O Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie; O Lord My Strength And My Redeemer; O Send Out Thy Light; Oklahoma Hills; Ol’ Shorty; Old Chisholm Trail; Old Tex Kringle; One Little Dewdrop Too Late; One Misty Moisty Morning; One True Heart; Onward Christian Soldiers; Other Side; Nobody’s Fool; Paradise Below; Path Of Sorrow; Pecos Bill; Phantom White Stallion of Skull Valley; Pick Up After You; Picnic Song; Please Don't Leave Me; Pledge Of Allegiance; Pony Express; Poor Unwanted Heart; Prairie Home; Praise Ye The Lord; Red Deck Of Cards; Red River Valley; Remember Me; Remember The Alamo; Riddle Song; Ridin' Ole Paint; Rock All The Babies To Sleep; Rock And Rye; Rounded Up In Glory; Rye Whiskey; Sacred Guest; Salvation Oh The Joyful Sound; Sam Bass; Sam Hall; San Antonio Story; San Antonio Rose; Searchers, The; September Song; Shadow On My Heart; Shame On You; She’ll Be Comin’ Round The Mountain; Silver Spurs, Purple Sage, Eyes Of Blue; Seek Ye The Lord; Skybird (Parts 1-4); Snowflakes; Someday (You'll Want Me To Want You); Someone; Stay Away From My Heart; Streets Of Laredo; Sweetest Love Of All; Sweethearts Or Strangers; Talk Gobbler Talk; Teach Me To Forget; Tears Of Regret; Tehena, Timpson, Bob And Blair; Tennessee Blues; Texas Rangers; Thank You; There Shall be Showers Of Blessings; There'll Be Some Changes Made; There’s A Gold Star In Her Window; There's A New Moon Over My Shoulder; There’s No one To Cry Over Me; Thief On The Cross; This Lonely World; Tho' I've Tried (I Can't Forget You); Three Handed Woman; Time Alone Will Tell; Too Late To Worry; Too Little, Too Late; Toodle-Loo My Darlin’; Touch Of The Master’s Hand; Trail To Mexico; Trooper Hook, Parts 1 & 2; Trouble Keeps Hangin' Round My Door; Try Me One More Time; Turn Around Boy; Tweedle O'Twill; Two Little Hands/Jesus Loves The Little Children; Two Little Magic Words (Please And Thank You); Up The Lazy River (instrumental); Wagon Wheels; Waitin’ And Worryin’; Walking The Floor Over You; Wand’rin’ Star; Wave To Me My Lady; Wayward Wind; We Hanged Our Harps Upon The Willows; We Live In Two Different Worlds; Wearin’ Out Your Walkin’ Shoes; Whale Of A Tale; When It’s Springtime In The Rockies; When My Blue Moon Turns Gold Again; When The Work's All Done This Fall; When You Cry (You Cry Alone); When You Leave Don't Slam The Door; With Tears In My Eyes; Willie The Wandering Gypsy And Me; When It’s Lamplighting Time In The Valley; When The Work's All Done This Fall; Whoopee Ti Yi Yo (Git Along Little Dogies); Why Did It End This Way; Who Shall Dwell In Thy Holy Hill; Wicked World; Wind And The Tree; Wind of Oklahoma; Wichita; Wreck of Number Nine; You Brought Sorrow To My Heart; You Can't Break My Heart; You Can't Conceal A Broken Heart; You Drove Me To Another's Arms (And Now I'm Happy There); You Two Timed Me Once Too Often; You Will Have To Pay; Your Heart And My Heart Are One; You’re Always Brand New; You've Got To Come And Get Me; Yankee Doodle; Zebra Dun
Capitol LPs: Cowboy Favorites Capitol H-4004, 1954; Songs From the Western Screen Capitol T-971 1958
Psalms (Gospel) Capitol T-1100 1958; Blood On The Saddle Capitol ST-1292 1959; Lincoln Hymns Capitol ST-1562 1961; Hillbilly Heaven Capitol ST-1623 1961; Tex Ritter With Stan Keeton Capitol ST-1757 1962; Border Affair (Mexican) Capitol ST-1910 1963; Friendly Voice Capitol ST-2402 1965; The Best of Tex Ritter Capitol DT-2595 1966; Sweet Land Of Liberty (patriotic) Capitol ST-2743 1967; Just Beyond The Moon Capitol ST-2786 1967; Bump Tiddil De Bum Bum Capitol ST-2890 1968; Wild West Capitol ST-2974 1968; Chuck Wagon Days Capitol ST-213 1969; Green Green Valley Capitol ST-467 1970; Super Country Legendary Capitol ST-11037 1972; American Legend Capitol SKC-11241 1973; Fall Away (44) Capitol ST-11351 1974; Comin’ After Jinny Capitol ST-11503 1976;
Vintage Collections Capitol 36903 1997;
Other LP’s CD’s: Tex Ritter Sings With Grande River Boys Coronet CXS-273 1966; Sings His Hits Hilltop JS-6043 1967; Tennessee Blues Hilltop JS-6059 1968; Love You Big As Texas Hilltop JS-6075 1969; High Noon Hilltop JS-6138 1974; Tex Hilltop JS-6155 1975; High Noon Bear Family BFX-15126 1984; Lady Killin' Cowboy Bear Family BFX-15209 1986; Singin' In The Saddle Bear Family BDP-15231 1986; Country Music Hall Of Fame MCA 10188 1991; Greatest Hits Curb D2-77397 1991; Blood On The Saddle Bear Family BCD-16260 1999 4 CD box; High Noon Bear Family BCD-16260 1999 4 CD box